A common method of athletic training or for preparing to execute a swing involves the use of a weighted element placed on the equipment to be used and executing the swing with increased weight. In particular baseball athletes often warm up for competition by swinging a bat with a heavy weighted element removably affixed to their bat, which is intended to loosen the athlete's muscles and improve performance during competition. A number of devices have been patented in the history of athletic training that provide a weighted element that meets this intent. Of such devices the following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
Pat. No.Issue DatePatentee3,521,883July 1970Hamilton3,623,724November 1971Lande3,971,559July 1976Diforte, Jr.5,050,877September 1991Wales5,980,397November 1999Hart et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,685 B1March 2003Otten et al.U.S. Pat. No. 8,231,484 B1July 2012Quinn
As intended such devices do offer added weight to the athletic equipment and afford the user a means of improved training and warming up for athletic competition, however the devices sited above offer no training feedback to the user. Further, such devices can become wedged onto the athletic equipment with such force as to make them difficult to remove when the training session is complete.
Another common method of athletic swing training involves the use of training devices intended to provide audible, visual or tactile feedback to the user pertaining to the proper timing of the execution of the swing being trained. Of this subset there is still an impressive quantity of patents pertaining to feedback provided by a moveable member propelled by the centrifugal acceleration of the swing along the axis of an elongated member striking a fixed implement attached to said member. Of such devices the following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
Pat. No.Issue DatePatentee3,136,546June 1964Connolly3,137,504June 1964Zordan et al.5,360,209November 1994Mollica5,577,966November 1996DuranUS 2002/0072041 A1June 2002Gallagher et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,036 B2September 2005Ciesar et al.U.S. Pat. No. 8,187,124 B2May 2012Ciesar et al.
The devices sited above offer training feedback pertaining to the proper execution of an athletic swing, however these devices require the athlete to use the device for training vs. allowing the user to use the athletic equipment that will be used during competition. As such, their utility is often limited and in certain cases restricted by the rules of the sport or activity the user is participating in.
Of the prior art the work of Vento in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,436, 1991-Jun.-18 is also noteworthy. This patent provides a training device affixed to a baseball bat to be used in training exercise. This device provides feedback pertaining to the force of the user's swing, however does not provide feedback pertaining to the timing of the execution of the swing.